You don't need to have suffered from addictive illness (although it undoubtedly helps) to understand that abstinence-based recovery is the only method that really works - in the sense of bringing the individual completely face-to-face with the underlying psychological problems that cause him or her to use drugs and alcohol in the first place. Nor do you need to be an addict (although, once again, in indisputably helps), to know that the current Kafkaesque condition of our prisons is a direct result of addiction treatments that are really nothing of the sort.

Coverley has thus far made an intriguing career from his brand of esoteric primers, on interconnected subjects ranging from Psychogeography to Occult London, and with his latest, The Art of Wandering: The Writer as Walker, he re-introduces readers to a seemingly ancient tradition. Serving as a brief history of this storied connection between great, even classic, literature and the epic bouts of pedestrianism which bore them, Coverley inspires in his readers - who it must be presumed are largely made up of either walkers or writers (or both) - a peculiar kind of brotherhood.

"Pop and thought don't go together," a BBC controller once said, resisting the introduction of pop music to his schedules. That battle was won a long time ago, but the sentiment behind it lingers still; pop music lacks the esteem accorded to other art.

The argument against pasties being taxed is that they are baked goods, like bread, intended to be eaten when cool. To add further insult, the tax will hit both bakeries and supermarkets alike, with no concessions to the smaller chains over the commercial beasts already sucking so much out of our high streets.

It does feel to me that despite recession, austerity, and depression taking up the slack, there is a sense of confidence and urgency within the global filmmaking community to explore ideas through short filmmaking and to communicate their visions.